


Dragons in the Front Garden

by littleskywatcher



Category: Kairos (O'Keefe) Series - Madeleine L'Engle, Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 10:16:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3116378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleskywatcher/pseuds/littleskywatcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>From your YW Holiday Anon. (: Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote>





	Dragons in the Front Garden

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MayContainBlueberries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayContainBlueberries/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Advisory](https://archiveofourown.org/works/778111) by [hhertzof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/pseuds/hhertzof). 



> From your YW Holiday Anon. (: Enjoy!

A noise at the door jolted Alexander Murry out of his perusal of one of his father's science journals. His twin Dennys stood in the doorway holding a shovel.

"Done already?" he said in mild surprise. Dennys had left to shovel the front walk not ten minutes before.

"I got distracted," came the reply, and something in his voice made Sandy sit up and pay attention. "Who all are we expecting for dinner tonight?"

"Meg said she and Cal'd be here in a few hours with the kids, and someone named Sasha? I think one or two of Dad's associates are coming, and Charles said he might bring a friend."

"A friend," Dennys echoed curiously.

"A human friend, as far as I'm aware," clarified Sandy, knowing that tone. "But I heard at least one of Dad's associates may be feline. Why?"

"I think there's a dragon in the garden."

Sandy stared. "Are you okay?" he asked finally.

"It's not like last time. Or at least, I don't think it is." Sandy didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he wasn't--when Charles Wallace had seen dragons in their garden years ago, something had been very wrong.

"Well, let's see what it wants, I guess." Grabbing his coat and boots, Sandy followed his brother out the door, making sure his favorite flashlight/laser dissociator was in his pocket. Soon they could hear a rusting over the crunch of their boots on refrozen snow. From the sound, the dragon seemed to be somewhere among the rutabagas. "Hello?" called Sandy, voice ringing slightly in the cold.

The rustling stopped, and the dragon raised its head to peer at them, muttering softly to itself. Up close, it resembled a rather fantastically colored dinosaur more than a dragon. Sandy wasn't quite sure how a dragon could project bad temper, but this one did. Beside him, he felt Dennys tighten his grip on the shovel as he tried again. "Cousin?" he asked, this time in the Speech.

The dinosaur stopped muttering and _stared_. "First Kit's sister, now you two," it said in the same tongue, sounding peeved. "And they keep telling me Earth is  _sevarfrith_...!" The brothers exchanged looks as the creature stopped, seeming to remember itself. "I'm sorry, cousins, where are my manners? I am on errantry, and I greet you--you may call me Mamvish." It-- _she_  would probably be more accurate, Sandy realized, hearing her name in the Speech--inclined her head and looked at them expectantly.

"Well met on our common journey, cousin," Dennys said, and Sandy hid a smile as Mamvish's eyes widened further. They may not be wizards, but they knew how to be polite. "I'm Dennys, and this is my brother Sandy. May I ask what brings you to our vegetable patch?"

"I was working with the inhabitants of the PSR B1620-26 system--for such an old species, they are incredibly resistant to change. Then again, that's probably  _because_  they're such an old species. Powers that Be in a  _bucket_ , they make dealing with komodo dragons look easy! Stupid backwater evolution-challenged little..." And Sandy raised his eyebrows: the words Mamvish was using were the Speech, but not in any form he was familiar with. Judging by Dennys' expression, he was equally flummoxed. She seemed to be  _swearing_  in the Speech. Sandy coughed lightly, and Mamvish jumped.

"Sorry," she apologized again, and her hide changed colors.  _Maybe the colors have something to do with her emotions_ , he thought. "I was working with the," she used a species-term in the Speech that Sandy didn't catch, "and something--someOne, probably--kicked me out." She stamped her feet and rolled her eyes, and Sandy realized the bad-temper feeling was frustration more than anything else. "I can't re-establish that link, and I'll have to wait another whole  _cycle_  to get into contact with them!"

"Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Mamvish sighed. "I need to double-check to make sure my being dumped here didn't cause any lasting damage. I think I covered all my bases but there just wasn't time--you wouldn't happen to know where the nearest Advisory is, would you?"

"Two of them should be here in a couple hours, if you can wait that long," supplied Dennys, glancing at Sandy for confirmation. "You're welcome to wait inside, if you can promise not to knock over any lab equipment on your way in."

"Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble? If you're not wizards, and you have company coming..."

"It's fine, we've seen stranger houseguests before. Do you want anything to eat? Can you eat anything we have to offer? We were thinking sandwiches, since dinner will be in a little while. We've got peanut butter and jelly, some cheese, I think I saw some tomatoes..."

For the first time since her arrival, Mamvish didn't seem frustrated--she seemed delighted. "Cousin-- _thelef'_ \--you have  _tomatoes_?" She made an appreciative noise. "Are you  _sure_  you're not wizards?"

Sandy and Dennys laughed. "Someone's gotta be the normal ones around here," they chorused as the dinosaur followed them into the house.


End file.
